Chapter 21

Luo Liuzi admired Qiu Shuyu.

He had grown up in the community. As his name suggested, he was the sixth child in his family, and as his name also suggested, he was not valued-a feral child someone had brought into the world but no one had raised.

Though Qiu Shuyu was a girl, her combat power was off the charts. Whether scavenging or working at the logging yard, she did a solid job. Luo Liuzi had heard about her "battle record" and did not dare offend her.

Qiu Shuyu shook her head. "No need."

Tian Man interjected, "Switch places. Liuzi isn't as strong as you."

Still suppressing her anger, Qiu Shuyu said stiffly, "It's fine. The force on both sides shouldn't be equal anyway. Just hit harder on your side."

Felling trees took skill, especially trees with such large diameters.

The angle of the axe mattered, and the blows on either side should not be exactly the same. Ideally, one side would strike harder and the other more lightly, then the tree's own weight would bring it toppling to one side, felling it.

Originally, the best arrangement would have been Qiu Shuyu and Tian Man on one side, with Liu Mu and Luo Liuzi on the other. But Qiu Shuyu had brought a stone axe, and Liu Mu did not think he would do any worse than her, so he had claimed the spot beside Tian Man.

What Tian Man actually wanted to suggest was for Qiu Shuyu to exchange axes with Luo Liuzi and join him on the right. That way, the two of them could quickly chop out a large notch, making it the most efficient arrangement.

Luo Liuzi looked simple and honest, but he was quite shrewd. He quickly sized up the situation, took Qiu Shuyu's axe, and told her, "Go over to Brother Man's side. I'm the weakest anyway. I'll help out over here."

Then he turned to Liu Mu. "Muzi, come work with me. We've worked together so many times already."

Liu Mu was very unwilling, but Luo Liuzi had given his own axe to Qiu Shuyu, and of the four of them, no one except Tian Man could match Qiu Shuyu's strength...

He glared at Luo Liuzi and sneered. "You sure know how to get on people's good side."

Luo Liuzi grinned cheekily. "Don't say that. We took this job together, so let's make money together!"

Liu Mu snorted coldly. In the end, he did not want to stand in the way of making money. He stood beside Luo Liuzi and said sarcastically, "When that piece of junk breaks, you can chop with your hands, or don't expect a share of the money."

Luo Liuzi tightened his grip on the stone axe. "At worst, it won't be sharp enough. It won't break, and I won't do any less work. When it's time to haul the tree, I'll do it!"

Not wanting to waste time, Tian Man quickly said, "Enough chatter. Get to work!"

Qiu Shuyu had a bellyful of anger. One swing of her axe made the thick New Poplar shudder violently, and all three men fell silent. Whatever else they thought, this girl really was strong!

Tian Man followed with a swing of his own, but his cut was actually a little shallower than Qiu Shuyu's.

On the other side, Liu Mu was also stewing. He swung viciously, putting more strength into it than usual.

Luo Liuzi grinned. "Brother Mu, you're getting stronger and stronger. You picked a good angle, too. So accurate!"

As he spoke, he swung the stone axe quite casually and chopped down as though merely going through the motions.

They did not need to cut too large a notch on this side anyway, so he was happy to slack off.

No one expected anything from his swing. Liu Mu was positively gloating and tossed out a remark, "Take it easy. Don't shatter Brother Yu's precious stone axe on the-"

His words cut off abruptly before he could finish.

Luo Liuzi's axe had struck right before his eyes, and the cut was actually a good deal deeper than the one Liu Mu had made with all his strength.

Liu Mu froze and turned to look at Luo Liuzi.

Luo Liuzi was even more bewildered. After staring blankly for a moment, he exclaimed in surprise, "This axe... this axe... feels so good to use!"

Chapter 21

It felt so good to use!

It was a hard feeling to describe. With Luo Liuzi's level of education, "good to use" was all he could come up with.

It worked well. Really well.

It was as though he had grown stronger, and even this sturdy, hard-wearing tree seemed to have loose-grained wood!

Hearing his words, Liu Mu shook off his stunned expression. Anger flared in his eyes, and he lowered his voice to sneer, "You're really something. You can even find a way to flatter her over this. No matter how hard you simp, Qiu Shuyu won't give you a bigger share!"

It never occurred to him that the stone axe might be good to use. He simply thought Luo Liuzi, that bootlicker, was going against him and deliberately sucking up to Qiu Shuyu.

He had even put every last ounce of strength into that swing to do it.

They were all experienced loggers. Though some ranked above others, when it really came down to it, the gaps between them were not large.

Especially when comparing Liu Mu and Luo Liuzi, Luo Liuzi could surpass him if he went all out without holding anything back. But that only worked once or twice. Over an hour of chopping, Liu Mu would be stronger overall.

Luo Liuzi did not hear a word Liu Mu said. He was immersed in the feel of that last swing and could hardly wait to swing again and experience that smooth feeling once more.

There was a crack.

Luo Liuzi brought his axe down again, leaving another solid cut.

Liu Mu grew even angrier. "You just won't quit, will you!"

With that, he put more strength into another swing.

This time, he did not hold back, and his cut was about as deep as Luo Liuzi's.

Luo Liuzi did not even look. He muttered, "Works so well... really works so well..."

Then he swung again.

Liu Mu said, "Works well, my ass. Let's see how long you can keep this up!"

He brought his axe down too.

Only this one large tree stood between them and Tian Man and Qiu Shuyu, so they were very close. Unfortunately, both sides were chopping away, and much of their voices was drowned out. The other two could hear them talking, but they really could not make out what they were saying.

Qiu Shuyu, in particular, was so angry that her head was buzzing. All her attention was on chopping, and she had no desire to listen to their chatter-once she finished this job, she would never come back, not even if it killed her.

At the start, Tian Man had caught Luo Liuzi saying something about it feeling good to use...

Good to use?

How could a stone axe feel good to use?

His thoughts were much like Liu Mu's. He assumed that slippery fellow Luo Liuzi was sucking up to Qiu Shuyu.

Luo Liuzi stopped talking too. He swung his axe and chopped at the tree, thoroughly hooked!

The more

experienced someone was, the less they could resist this sort of percentage bonus. For Song Xiaozhu, it had only raised her from 10 to 12. She could feel it, but it was nowhere near this satisfying.